Team from Governor’s School @ Innovation Park in Manassas Virginia’s best in Verizon app challenge

Students from the Governor’s School @ Innovation Park in Manassas have earned the title of Best in State in the third Verizon Innovative App Challenge This is a national competition in which students design a mobile application concept that addresses a need or problem in their local schools or communities.

In total, 90 teams of creative middle and high school students from across the country have advanced to the next phase of the judging process. A list of the Best in State winners is available at http://appchallenge.tsaweb.org/state-winners.

The Governor’s School student team came up with an app concept called Block It Out, which will minimize distracted driving.

The Verizon Innovative App Challenge was created by in partnership with the Technology Student Association in response to a critical need to inspire student interest in science, technology, engineering and math.

Student interest and proficiency in STEM has been stagnant in the United States, especially among women and minorities, even though 80 percent of all jobs over the next decade will require STEM skills. Currently, 3 million STEM jobs are unfilled in the U.S., and occupations related to STEM are projected to increase to more than 9 million by 2022.

More than 90 percent of the winners from last year’s Innovative App Challenge expressed interest in pursuing STEM careers after learning coding and launching their winning app in the Google Play store. Roughly 70 percent reported increased creativity, teamwork and communication skills, and content knowledge.

“The App Challenge has exposed students to a range of new skill sets, such as learning to collaborate, negotiate and solve problems,”  Doug Brammer, Verizon manager of state government affairs for Northern Virginia, was quoted as saying in the press release. “We can’t wait to see which of these creative concepts will become actual working mobile apps that can help make a difference in local communities.”

The Path to Best in Nation

The 90 Best in State teams now advance to the next round of the competition. On Jan. 16, Verizon and the TSA will name 24 Best in Region middle and high school team winners from the West, Midwest, South and Northeast. Each Best in Region team will earn a $5,000 cash grant for its school to further develop or support a STEM-related program.

On Feb. 3, the Innovative App Challenge competition’s final phase will conclude with the selection of eight Best in Nation winners – four middle school and four high school teams – chosen from the Best in Region teams.

Best in Nation teams will earn their schools an additional $15,000 cash grant to further develop or support a STEM-related program.

Verizon, in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, will help the students develop their app concepts, making them ready for sharing and distribution.

Apps developed during the first two years of the Verizon Innovative App Challenge have been downloaded more than 26,000 times from the Google Play store.

In June, the members of the eight winning teams will be invited to present their apps in person at the National TSA Conference in Dallas, Texas, courtesy of Verizon.

The Verizon Foundation is focused on accelerating social change by using the company’s innovative technology to help solve pressing problems in education, healthcare and energy management.  Since 2000, the Verizon Foundation has invested more than half a billion dollars to improve the communities where Verizon employees work and live, the press release stated.